Thursday, December 31, 2015

As the current landlord of Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton of West Allis, Wisconsin, currently residing in my property at 2033 S. 75th St. in West Allis I feel it is imperative, for the sake of any future ladlords that may rent to these individuals that they are currently squatters in my property. Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton have not paid rent since July of 2015. In addition, when Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton informed that they were seeking residence elsewhere I noted that I had not received any landlord inquiries regarding Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton. When I asked Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton about this, this was the response from Anita Bruton.

"We have decided to use a friend to act as our landlord since we were not sure what kind of a reference you would provide."
Here is the timeline with Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton currently residing at 2033 S. 75th St. in West Allis, Wisconsin 53219.

In mid August 2015 after not receiving rent, I contacted Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton to determine whether rent had been mailed. I received a resonse from Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton the same day. "Oh, did you not receive it? We mailed it," Since they "paid" in the form of money orders they asked if I wanted them to investigate the "lost" money orders. I told them that I did indeed want them to look into it.

A few days later I inquired as to the status of the "investigation" regarding the money orders and requested that Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton send me a text photo of the money order recepits. Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton informed me that they had taken a photo, but it was on a cell phone that had become lost, broken, or replaced. I asked that they send me copies of the money order receipts they currently had, and Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton of West Allis, Wisconsin informed me that they had mailed the original documents to the money order provider to investigate their whereabouts.

Toward the end of August I again requested a status update from Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton regarding the "lost" money orders. At that time Anita Bruton came clean and informed me that in July of 2015 Tom Bruton had lost his job and that they could no longer afford to live there. Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton clearly lied and there never were any money orders to speak of.

On or around the beginning of September of 2015 I served via certified mail a 5-Day Pay Or Quit notice, which Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton did in fact receive. I was informed after receipt that Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton were seeking residence elsewhere and that they would inform me as soon as they knew something when they would be vacating the property at 2033 S. 75th St., West Allis, Wisconsin.

Around the middle of September Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton informed me that the hot tub had stopped working. As they were not paying rent and had no right to residence, I told them to simply shut it off.

Toward the end of September 2015 Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton of West Allis informed that they would be vacating the premises around October 15th of 2015.

A few days prior to October 15th I contacted Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton to determine their status so that I could arrange to inspect and prepare to prep the property to put it back onto the market. They responded back that they were unable to find a place available for this date and they would give me another status update toward the end of October 2015.

I inquired with Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton why I had not gotten any calls from any potential landlords and was informed by Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton that they were not using me for a reference, but instead were having a friend stand in to "act" as their landlord since they felt I would not provide a good reference. Makes me wonder who I spoke with when I vetted them before I provided Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton tenancy at 2033 S. 75th St.

On or around the last week of November of 2015 Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton contacted me to let me know that Tom Bruton had found a new job, and asked that if they paid all of their arrears over time and paid regular rent in December of 2015 if they could stay. I worked out the details of the "arrangement" and agreed that they could stay if they honored their commitments.

Two days later Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton informed me that the furnace had stopped working. "The furnace is not working. It's cooolllddd in here... (smiley face emoticon). Having the strong suspicion that their "arrangement" offered two days prior was a ploy, and that they knew the furnace was already not working, and that they thought the arrangement would encourage me to fix their heat, I declined an offer to fix the furnace and informed the tenants that they would have to have the furnace serviced at their expense, and that I would not reimburse them the cost until the first of the installments according to the arrangement were fulfilled. Anita Bruton wrote back in all caps, "THIS IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!!!" I responded back that considering the circumstances, and the fact that I had not received rent for the past 3 months at that time, that my only responsibility was to evict them.

A couple of days later I told the tenants I would be in town and would make an "emergency entry" into the property to protect my asset considering winter weather is an issue for freezing pipes, Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton hastily sent me a copy of a service receipt for the furnace repairs. I cancelled the "emergency entry."

On about the second week of December of 2015 I contacted Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton to inquire as to the status of our "arrangement," as rent had not been received as well as no arrears. I received no response. I sent another text the following day and also left a voicemail. No response. A day later I did the same. No response.

On or around the 3rd week I told Anita Bruton and Tom Bruton I suspected they had lied to me once again. As my last mortgage payment was made in October of 2015 for a variety of personal reasons regarding the property, I added, "Enjoy your stay until the bank evicts you." I received no response on that either.

Friday, October 9, 2015

If there is one thing music marketers know, it's that sometimes it's not that first spin of a record that a listener hears that wins them over on a song. Sometimes it takes a couple of spins before the listener really catches on, and the song ultimately grows on them.

I certainly know this is true of my own interest in music. There have been countless dozens of songs that when I heard them the first time I thought to myself, that was just okay. Only to have the song stuck in my head after a few times hearing it and actually liking it.

Music marketers will go to great lengths to have their music spun multiple times in rotations in radio airplay because they know that eventually the song may just catch on even if it might not initially.

Of course, the song still has to be good. It still has to be solid. You can play a horrible tune over and over again and if it's simply garbage no one is ever going to care about it.

Thursday, October 8, 2015

The short answer is yes. I think it simply makes perfect sense that employees of FanDuel should be banned from playing the popular fan sports game. The ban came about as a result of one employee who apparently won $350,000 playing, and after the results of an internal probe which suggested that the employee may have gotten his winnings due to some inside knowledge other players outside of FanDuel were not privy to.

Whenever there is the possibility of someone knowing something, rules must be in place where money is to potentially be gained from it to curb that. Pardon the pun, but it's a matter of gaming the system. It's fine to make money when you are doing it honestly and fairly. And let's not forget that the winnings at FanDuel are from monies paid by other players. So playing with knowledge that other players do not have is essentially stealing.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

To be totally honest, despite my definite capitalistic nature, I am somewhat saddened by the state of the beer industry wherein currently the big breweries are no longer technically United States companies. InBev, which is now AB InBev is a Belgian company. And SABMiller is part of a joint venture between Canadian Molson Coors, and South African SAB. While it is true that a large part of these operations are still active in the U.S., and so there are still plenty of jobs that are supported by these companies, the truth is that I think America loses something more in the way of what was once a vibrant system of breweries.

The last standing largest American brewer is The Boston Beer Company which brews the popular, hoppy brand Samuel Adams.
There is also the thought that I have that as these companies become more melded into one, what we also lose more of is the ability of new, smaller players to emerge and compete. Granted, the craft beer industry and the traditional beer industry are not necessarily one in the same, and neither are their customers. Still, the proposed merger between AB InBev and SABMiller could mean that the combined company would control approximately 70% of the entire beer market. While that happens to be a great deal for the company and its shareholders, I am not sure it is a great deal for consumers since this large behemoth of a company will be able to have more control over its distributors, and I think ultimately this means that the combined company will also have the strength to control prices in a way that puts consumers at a disadvantage.

All in all I don't think the merger is one that will not happen with a few tweaks. For example, an adjustment to the MillerCoors company deal may have to happen. It would not be totally bad for the market. But I definitely would like to see some new, smaller companies emerge who can one day at least challenge a company such as what we will have with this combined one.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

It may be a hard line, and likely not a particularly popular one. But I come down on the side of not the people who kill people. But the people who are killed by people. I have always been in favor of capital punishment, although I do have a strong belief that the system of carrying out executions needs to be airtight. That is, there can be absolutely no doubt that the person who will be executed is the person who is guilty of murder.

How we carry out those executions is not a concern I have. Whether it be the electric chair, lethal injection, or yes. Even firing squads. The end result is the same, and while I understand the concerns of some people that other methods may be less humane, the fact remains for me that we are not dealing with people who necessarily deserve humane treatment. We are dealing with murderers who, in many cases, are on death row having killed someone who is innocent—and many of those murders are heinous acts with no regard for human life, human suffering, and human pain.

The treatment of the victims, and the method of their death is far from humane. Murderers are not, in my opinion, victims of anything other than their own actions which have caused them to have to die.
Many say that if Utah brings back the firing squad—which is an alternative to lethal injection by the way in the event that lethal injection drugs are not available—this will be a step backwards to the days of the old Wild West.
Maybe so. But again. Why should we have compassion for compassionless people? Does it make us like the murderers? Does it make us monsters of the same kind?

I don't think so. It simply makes us human beings who are dealing with the eradication of monsters who have no right to life, or humane consideration however cold that may sound. I simply have no regard for people who take innocent lives.

About Me

Jim Bauer currently resides with his wife in Southern Illinois, recently transplanted from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Writing is a passion, from the serious commentary to the blabbering ramble. "So long as the pen keeps moving, life is good." He also writes music and plays guitar. His original song "102 Idle Stones" can be found on Amazon MP3 and iTunes among other places. He is also editor of the horror fiction anthology, "Dark Whispers," as Ivan S. Graves, available in Kindle format.